A Lemonade Toast to the Good Life

About 5 or 6 months ago, I decided to take a drinking hiatus…for a month…during the summer…while living in D.C. It was quite a challenge because there was always something going on- a friend’s birthday, concert, a house party, or it was just a long Tuesday. For anyone that lives in a major city with a predominately 20 to 30-something population knows that going out and alcohol typically goes hand and hand. But I was determined to get through this hiatus to make sure I never got to the point where I felt like I needed to drink to have fun.

While I know heavy alcohol consumption in your twenties is nothing new, it seems my generation has decided to take it a step further. We want to be the most drunk, go through the most bottles, have the biggest hangover. Where before there was a stigma associated with the people that always got wasted every time they went out, now it seems to be fashionable. Yes, getting wasted is trendy. It is almost laughable, but then you realize how sad it is.

So, the hiatus was for me to go against the trend and tune back in to me- sober. After the first week, I realized I enjoyed the sober me way better. I used to only drink occasionally prior to working for a company in D.C whose employees were mostly in their twenties. Then I started going out after work with my white co-workers (whom I love). Yeah, it was pretty much downhill from there. They give you something like try this. You do, you live, and so you go harder next time. Tolerance is an exercise, and well, I was in shape. Then life took its course and I ended up back in Dallas and no longer felt the need to drink often. I was back to having a drink on a rare occasion. I still went out all of the time. However, though I was still hanging with the same age bracket, alcohol was no longer the prominent trend but rather a backdrop to the social scene. I experienced no pressure to drink or received crazy looks, if I said I was just going to have lemonade tonight.

Then I moved back to D.C where again the social environment damn near demands a few cocktails on any given day. And I found myself drinking just because it was available. Pointless drinking. I was not drunk all the time because I still have a high tolerance, but just back drinking again because it is trendy. It was after my hiatus that I realized how productive and more focused I was sans liquor. My Saturday mornings were filled with breakfast and great ideas with enough energy to implement them. My life began to take slow turns for the better. By day 30, it dawned on me that my life is great. I have no sorrows to drown like the generation before me drunks did. And while I am by no means giving up alcohol altogether, I am just completely over the excessive drinking just cause. There is so much life to offer and this is my prime. I don’t want my best years to be a blur especially when life is this good!